Benjamin Wong has discovered calm — 8,530 feet above sea level. A high school teacher in Singapore, he enjoys long summer holidays. Still, he finds it difficult to choose destinations that aren’t just as sweltering as his hometown. This year, he is spending his break at a high-end mountain retreat in Yunnan, in southwestern China — a province increasingly favored by travelers hoping to beat the heat. Popular cities such as Dali and Lijiang can see nighttime summer temperatures drop to around 59

Tensions in the Middle East intensified after two oil tankers transporting Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea on Tuesday. The move followed an announcement by Yemen’s Houthi group declaring a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia. The shutdown of the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a vital passage linking the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean, has added new strain to global shipping lanes. This comes as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains unstable amid the continuing US-Israel conflict